William Herschel discovered NGC 7817 = H II-227 = h2300 on 15 Sep 1784 (sweep 274) and recorded "F, pL, E, r." On 18 Sep 1784 (sweep 277) he reported "pF, cL, E, r." Again on 13 Nov 1786 (sweep 635) he logged "F, E, about 2 1/2' long from sp to nf." JH made the single observation "pB; mE; lbM; 2' l, 20" br; pos 45° nf to sp by diagram."

400/500mm - 17.5" (9/15/90): moderately bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 SW-NE, broad concentration. An evenly matched mag 14 pair of starts with separation of 17" lies just south of the SW extension 1.3' from the center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb